A good example of what's wrong with Hollywood

Rating: 1/10 (5 December 2005)

Hollywood studio execs bemoaned the loss of revenue this summer. Every weekend, they kept coming up with new excuses, new reasons, new explanations as to why box-office receipts were low. They blamed the weather, proliferation of home theaters, DVD sales, rude movie patrons. Very few, if any, were willing to admit that the main reason fewer people went to movies this summer was because the most of the films stunk! "The Island" is a great example.
Here's a film with an intriguing idea and two very attractive and talented stars. In fact, the first 15, 20 minutes of this film were exciting and refreshingly good for a Michael Bay film.
There's was something awfully Kubrickian about the whole set up. The clinical atmosphere of the place, the entirely aloof attitude among the people. Knowing this was a Bay picture, I was pleasantly surprised. This story actually had some substance, something to say. The characters were interesting, their situations and dilemmas intrigued me.
Then the whole film went completely berserk. Michael Bay took over. And the likes of Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johannson are relegated to saying dumb things you normally expect to see in a bad Will Smith movie as they're thrust into one inane action sequence after another. All those action scenes could've been jumbled and thrown back into the film and the plot would not have suffered one iota.
It's almost as if there are two films in one here. The first half creates an exciting world, raises probing ethical questions and seems intelligent. The second half is loud, obnoxious, unoriginal and a total waste of the early build up.
In the end, it's all bluster and thoroughly unsatisfying.
"The Island" is yet another example of the dumbing down of America. You can't tell me there are no good original stories floating around Hollywood. It's just that execs are gutless, without vision and keep insisting on churning out the same garbage.
Of course, this time they were helped by loads of product placement. There are times when "The Island" seems like nothing more than a commercial, albeit an expensive one, for some product or another. The number of product-placement shots in this film is beyond vulgar, it's downright obscene.
I suppose the one reassuring thing about "The Island" is knowing that in the mid 21st century, Amtrak still will be running.